


Gingham Check

by arimi_skywalker



Category: Arashi (Band), Johnny's Entertainment
Genre: Drama & Romance, Fluff, Gingham, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-17
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-08-23 01:18:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8308213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arimi_skywalker/pseuds/arimi_skywalker
Summary: Even when it's summer, Ohno Satoshi wakes up early every morning...





	

**Author's Note:**

> **Author:** [](http://arimi-skywalker.livejournal.com/profile)[**arimi_skywalker**](http://arimi-skywalker.livejournal.com/) ([sutekihanashi](https://twitter.com/sutekihanashi))  
>  Disclaimer: fanFICTION (extra emphasis on the fiction). None of this is based in anything even resembling fact except for, like, their names. Do not know, don't presume to know. Not owning. Not meant to offend. Just fangirling.  
> A/N: Thanks to my dear 'Sho-chan' for checking and correcting this text for me. I suck at expressing myself in english ^^;;
> 
> _If you like this, you're welcome to check out my other fics :)_
> 
> Based on the song **“Gingham Check”** by **AKB48** (Japanese lyrics with two English interpretations [here](http://stage48.net/studio48/ginghamcheck.html)).

I growled as I turned off the alarm clock.  
  
I turned over in my bed and sighed, covering my head with the sheets. I woke up every morning with the birds, putting on my clothes to get coffee from the _konbini_ down my building and go to Odaiba to sit down on a bench at the promenade. Just to wait.  
  
It was summer and no one else was there during this hour. The benches at the promenade were empty and no other sound than the sea waves lapping onto the shore could be heard. I sat down at my usual spot and opened the bag I had in my hands. Starting last week, I had been buying two coffees every day: I would drink one of them in small sips and find it necessary as the air that I breathed, and I would give the other one to him; the reason why I woke up so early on summer mornings. And I wouldn't let him go this time, as I had done many other times. After almost two months watching him, hardly daring to look at him when our eyes met by chance, I was finally determined to be brave and talk to him.  
  
That morning, time flew. When I realized, I could already see him from the distance, walking towards me with his bicycle. He wasn't riding it, as usual. He just pushed it along the promenade under the sun shining through his hair. He was wearing his usual blue and white checkered shirt. The shirt which drove me crazy and made me smile and sigh. He had the sleeves carefully rolled up to his middle arm, revealing just a few inches of skin, giving him an attractive and mannish look that was more than enough to make me daydream.  
  
As he walked closer, my heart sped up more and more. I took several deep breaths, trying to calm down, trying to go back to breathing normally so that my voice wouldn't tremble when I finally talked to him, but it was impossible. My heartbeat was so out of control that my hands were shaking and I could feel waves of heat running up my back. He continued walking in my direction and I still couldn't find the right words to tell him. I didn't want to make a fool of myself and say the first thing that came to my mind, but I couldn't think of anything at the moment. I was so blocked that I couldn't even open my mouth. I could only stand up when he was almost reaching my bench and froze there, my feet stuck to the ground, looking at him with my eyes wide open due to the fear that was taken over me.  
  
He looked up from the ground, straight at me, expectantly for a few seconds when he saw I was standing up from my bench, but he only smiled and bowed his head slightly when he saw I wasn't moving any further. I bowed back and saw him walking away. Once again. He was walking away when we hadn't exchanged a single word yet. In my mind, I ran after him and called out his name, even when I didn't know it, and he stopped and turned around, smiling as he looked at me. But reality was that he kept walking, not turning around, and I sat back in my bench, tightening the grip on the _konbini_ bag, cursing myself for being a coward and not being able to offer him the coffee I had bought that morning.  
  
"You let him go away again, Ohno"  
  
I was startled when I realized I wasn't alone in that bench. I was so focused on the checkered shirt guy that I hadn't noticed that Ninomiya Kazunari, a guy who worked at one of the shops in the mall next to the beach, was sitting down next to me. I wondered how long had he been there and if he had witnessed my pitiful scene.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about", I tried to pretend.  
  
"Gingham Check", he replied.  
  
"Gingham Check?"  
  
Ninomiya nodded.  
  
"The checkered shirt guy. Jun and I call him Gingham Check"  
  
I rolled my eyes.  
  
"It's not very nice to go around giving nicknames to strangers", I protested.  
  
"Well, theoretically he isn't a stranger. It's just that we don't know his name"  
  
I turned to look at him with wide eyes.  
  
"Do you guys know him?", I asked.  
  
"I thought you didn't know what I'm talking about", he replied cheekily.  
  
"I'm serious, Nino", I snorted. "Do you know him?"  
  
"I only see him passing by every day, just like you", he shrugged.  
  
I sighed.  
  
"I'm pathetic, right?", I said.  
  
"Incredibly pathetic, yes"  
  
"But what can I do?", I asked, showing him the _konbini_ bag I was still holding in my hands. "I've been buying him coffee for a week now and I don't even dare to give it to him. At this rate, summer will end and maybe he will stop passing by here. I won't see him anymore"  
  
"I'll comfort you, don't worry"  
  
"Nino!", I scolded him. "I'm serious"  
  
Ninomiya clicked his tongue and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.  
  
"I already told you the first time we met that you won't achieve anything by just sitting here"  
  
"I know", I shook my head as a sign of frustration. "That's why I'm trying to get him coffee since a week ago, but it doesn't work"  
  
"Trying is not enough. You have to do it. It doesn't matter if you get him coffee or if you dance for him dressed up as a _geisha_ ", Nino made a funny gesture that made me chuckle. "You have to catch his attention somehow, if you're really interested in him"  
  
I sighed again and shook my head in regret.  
  
"I wish I had... the courage..."  
  
"You'll have to gather it quickly, then", he replied offhandedly. "September is here and I don't know how much longer his part-time job is going to last"  
  
"Part-time job?", I looked at him, bewildered. "How do you know he's working part-time?"  
  
"I followed him one day, without him realizing"  
  
"You followed him?", I couldn't believe my ears. "Nino..."  
  
"What?", he groaned. "I did it for you"  
  
"Yeah, sure. Not because you're nosy"  
  
My friend shrugged.  
  
I had known Ninomiya for barely two months at that time, but we bounded pretty quickly. I met him when he once approached me, after watching me following the guy in a checkered shirt with my gaze, and told me that I should do something instead of just sitting there. Nino, as he liked to be called, was like that; honest and straightforward, sometimes maybe too much, but a good friend. He always came to my bench in the mornings, before starting his shift, and sat down next to me for a while, keeping me company. Supporting me, in his own way.  
  
"Oh, look", he said, waving in the distance. "Here comes Jun"  
  
Matsumoto Jun was Ninomiya's co-worker. I met him around a month later than Nino, when he was early to his shift and approached my bench when he saw Ninomiya sitting down there with me. At first, I didn't dare to talk to him, even after Nino introduced us, maybe because of that intense gaze of him that seemed to read my inside. However, time taught me there was no reason to be afraid of him. Jun had a personality as intense as his gaze and he was passionate, but he also was an honest and mature person. I could trust him, and his pieces of advice were often more reasonable than Nino's.  
  
" _Yo_!", he greeted as he walked closer. "I bet you don't know whom I ran into just now"  
  
"Gimgham Check?", I asked.  
  
"Yes, and he was wearing his usual shirt. Does he ever change it? I wonder if... Wait!", he looked at me. "How do you know we call him Gingham Check?"  
  
I shrugged.  
  
Jun glanced over at Nino.  
  
"Who cares if he knows?", Nino said. "It's just a nickname"  
  
Jun rolled his eyes and shook his head.  
  
"I was saying that I wonder if his closet is full of checkered blue shirts", he chuckled.  
  
"Maybe it's his uniform", I stood up for Gingham Check.  
  
"That would explain why he doesn't wear anything else, yeah"  
  
"I want to know where he works", I stated with a foolish smile on my lips. "If that shirt is his uniform, I wouldn't mind seeing him wearing it at work"  
  
"You should talk to him and bang him once and for all, instead of daydreaming about his shirt", Nino snorted.  
  
My eyes widened at Nino's statement.  
  
Jun grinned.  
  
"Do you want to traumatize him or what?", he said patting my shoulder.  
  
"He's been coming here every morning for two months now, only to watch him pass by. It's time for him to react or the day when Gingham Check won't pass by anymore will come"  
  
"Nino is right", Jun said, looking at me. "You should do something. Or are you really going to let him go without even talk to him? I'm sure you would regret it later"  
  
I nodded and sighed.  
  
"I know I have to do something but my legs shake every time I try"  
  
"What about a letter?", he suggested. "You can place it in his pocket and run away. You don't have to talk to him"  
  
A letter!  
  
How hadn't I come up with that idea? It was perfect!  
  
I could write what I wanted, even my name, my phone number or my e-mail address, and I only had to place it in his pocket when he passed by. When he turned around, I could stay and talk to him if I had the strength, but it wasn't necessary. I always had the option of running away and wait for him to contact me.  
  
"What a great idea!", I exclaimed.  
  
"You can also take the chance to grope his ass", Nino showed a mischievous smile.  
  
"You're always thinking about dirty things, Nino", I chuckled.  
  
He shrugged.  
  
"He's got a nice ass"  
  
"You've been watching his ass?", Jun asked.  
  
"Of course", Nino smiled cheekily. "Just in case I might have a chance"  
  
"No way!", I said, determined. "I'll give him that letter tomorrow morning"  
  
Jun smiled and nodded. Nino chuckled amusedly and shook his head.  
  
That was a long night.  
  
I spent it writing the letter until the wee hours and, after more than fifteen failed attempts, I finally had my final version. It was about three in the morning when I went to bed, knowing I had to wake up at seven if I wanted to be on time, but my body didn't seem to be willing to collaborate. Lying down face up, my eyes open-wide, I couldn't stop fidgeting over my sheets, thinking about a million things. It looked like my head wasn't willing to stop spinning like crazy, just when I needed to rest the most.  
  
The next morning, I felt like the closest thing to a walking dead man. I woke up like a robot and dragged my feet to the bathroom, where I took a shower and dressed up, unaware of what I was really doing at the moment. I left home at my usual time and stopped by the _konbini_ to buy two coffees, just in case I could be brave enough as to give one to Gingham Check. Though, knowing myself and taking into account what happened before, most surely I would follow Jun's plan and run away the moment I handed over my letter.  
  
I sat down at my usual bench, nerves playing around in my stomach, and rushed my coffee, as if I could make time run faster and he would show up earlier that way. When I saw him in the distance, pulling his bicycle along the promenade, my heart jumped and sped up. Blood was running fast through my veins and I felt it gathering on my cheeks, making me flush. Gingham Check walked towards me, as every other morning, and my heart beat faster with every step he took. I wanted to stop the time to calm down and breathe normally but he kept getting closer, unaware of my thoughts. And the time to become brave was coming with him. I felt like I couldn't do it, that I would let him walk away once again and punish myself later. For losing what could be my last chance.  
  
I clenched my fists with determination, took a deep breath and decided I couldn't be a coward again. I only had to place the letter in his pocket and come what may, or what Gingham Check wanted. I reached my back pocket, where I had placed the letter before leaving home, and my heart jumped again. Panic took over me. The letter wasn't there. My eyes widened as I looked for it everywhere. I thought I had placed it in my pocket in the morning, but I was so tired and so sleepy that I couldn't recall my movements clearly. I was lost. My chance was slipping through my fingers, like the smoke of a cigarette, and I couldn't do anything to avoid it.  
  
It couldn't be real.  
  
It couldn't happen to me.  
  
After all summer trying to make up my mind and take a step forward, it was ruined just like that. What if I didn't see Gingham Check ever again? Summer was coming to an end and I didn't know much how longer his job would last. I didn't know anything about him. I didn't know where he lived, if he had siblings, what kind of music he liked... And I would never know. For not paying attention to important things and lose the letter that might change my life. Maybe Gingham Check would've never used the phone number or e-mail address I wrote down there, but now I would never know. I lost it. I couldn't hand it over to him. And he was already passing by with his bicycle, with his checkered shirt, with the sun shining through his hair and warming the gentle gesture on his face.  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
A pair of dark and transparent eyes watched me carefully.  
  
I held my breath.  
  
I couldn't believe my eyes. Gingham Check was standing in front of me, still holding onto his bicycle with one hand, and offered a pack of tissues as he looked at me slightly frowning, showing concern.  
  
"Y-Yes, I'm fine", I said right away, wiping my tears.  
  
When had I started crying?  
  
I hadn't even realized.  
  
"Did you lose something?", he asked.  
  
"No... Well, yes... But it's not important, don't worry"  
  
"You seemed to be worried because you couldn't find it", he offered me the pack of tissues again. "Do you need help?"  
  
"No!", I replied, raising my voice maybe too much.  
  
He blinked, bewildered.  
  
"I mean...", I cleared my throat. "Don't worry. It was not important, really"  
  
"Okay, then", Gingham Check smiled.  
  
And what a beautiful smile he had!  
  
Wind blew at that moment and a gentle gust brought a piece of paper folded in three parts that crashed against Gingham Check's leg, averting his attention from me, making him look down and bend down to pick it up. I recognized it right away. It was my letter. I had dropped it somewhere and wind brought it to him, but I couldn't run away anymore. I tried to snatch it from him but he had already opened the paper and moved it away from me as he read in silence. I felt the flush on my cheeks again, probably covering them in a bright red color, and I looked down, wishing a hole opened on the ground and swallowed me.  
  
"Gingham Check?", he asked, after a few seconds.  
  
I looked up and saw he was staring at me, raising an eyebrow.  
  
I sighed as I regretted listening to my friends.  
  
"I'm sorry...", I whispered.  
  
"I should be the one who's sorry. I'm not worthy of my nickname today", he laughed.  
  
"Eh?", my eyes widened in surprise.  
  
He was laughing. He wasn't mad. And he was pointing at his jacket.  
  
Until that moment, due to all the chaos of my nerves and losing the letter, I hadn't realized the sun wasn't shining that morning and Gingham Check wore a blue cardigan, matching the checkered shirt he wore under it.  
  
"Well...", I chuckled, feeling like a fool.  
  
"Who am I today? Blue Cardigan?", he grinned.  
  
I blushed.  
  
"You can be whoever you want to be", I replied without thinking.  
  
He smiled.  
  
That beautiful smile of his.  
  
"I'm Sakurai Sho", he said.  
  
I looked at him.  
  
Sakurai Sho. So, that was his name.  
  
I smiled back and bowed, still shaking.  
  
"I'm Ohno Satoshi", it was all I could say.  
  
"Ohno Satoshi", he repeated, grinning. "I always wondered what would be the name of the guy sitting on the bench by the beach"  
  
"The guy sitting on the bench by the beach?"  
  
"You got a nickname too", he winked. "Aiba-chan gave it to you"  
  
"Aiba-chan?", I blinked, confused.  
  
"My best friend. It's a long story"  
  
I blushed again but couldn't help a smile.  
  
He noticed me.  
  
"I have to rush or I'll be late to work", he said, taking a glance at his watch. "Can I call you this afternoon?"  
  
I nodded eagerly.  
  
"Whenever you want to", I replied right away.  
  
"Nice", the smile was still on his lips. "I'll call you later, then"  
  
"Yeah, later"  
  
He said goodbye waving his hand and I watched as he walked away, pulling his bicycle along the road. He turned around middle way to glance over at me and I smiled. I couldn't stop smiling. Gingham Check wouldn't be gone with the end of the summer.  
  
  
_Two weeks later..._  
  
"Gingham Check!"  
  
I waved at Sho as he approached me with his bicycle.  
  
He waved back at me, with his beautiful smile on his lips.  
  
"When are you going to stop calling me like that?", he asked, amusedly.  
  
"You're right", I giggled. "I should stop calling you like that now that you're wearing that blue cardigan that covers your checkered shirt"  
  
"Well, it's September", he chuckled. "It's starting to cool down"  
  
"I'll have to say goodbye to you, then. Until next year, when you stop covering your checkered shirt again"  
  
"Are you saying that you don't like me if I'm not wearing the shirt?", Sho tilted his head.  
  
"It's not my fault that it looks SO good on you", I replied cheekily.  
  
I stuck my tongue playfully and laughed.  
  
"That made you deserve a kiss", he said, almost in a whisper.  
  
He leaned in and kissed me softly.  
  
Our first kiss.  
  
My heart raced up, my legs started shaking and I felt a million butterflies fluttering in my stomach.  
  
I placed my hand on his nape and pulled him closer to deepen the kiss.  
  
My heart spoke.  
  
I chose Gingham Check.


End file.
